Bob, the weather gods' chosen one, weaves some magic again. The destination was to be East Kirkby for a bit of jousting with the Lancaster, but Bob doesn't have quite that much sway upstairs. Instead a prudent trip south was settled on, so off we go to see if we can find Lydd and sample the delights of London Ashford International's restaurant.

G-OVIN side view. G-OVIN font view.

Richard is collecting his final few boys' toys before his and Angie's offspring arrives. And as I am without aeroplane (maintenance) I get to ride shotgun in his Commander AC11 - variable pitch prop, retractable undercarriage and a turbo charged engine - cruise of 130Kt. No need to hurry the ground checks then! Good job, we have to wait for fuel as Stapleford have a pump issue and the North Weald truck is busy over by the squadron. So while we wait a roll call:

Two Charlies rolls away first, Bob and Sparky grinning and singing. Praise the Lord I'm not in the back! Russell's Krakatoa departs while we are taxiing round past the squadron. Don't worry we'll soon catch him up! Richard explains the take off procedure so I don't get alarmed! Seems the control of the variable pitch prop means that it sounds like power is not full on until around rotation. Me alarmed! I've flown Shane and Nick! Anyway the AC11 eases gently into the air with none of the fuss that a C152 makes about.

Two Charlies. Runway in front of you.

Routing for all is Thurrock (where my aeroplane is probably in pieces) and then straight towards the Lydd VOR. Could base is not brilliant. If it gets any lower we won't make it past the hills after Rochester. But Bob has it under control, the weather keeps its distance from the chosen one. A spot of sight seeing and camera clicking and before long the coast is in sight.

Tilbury power. Medieval power.

Practiced as we are, we quickly defeat Lydd's camouflage. What you do is look for the triangular bit of coast that sticks out into the channel with the huge nuclear power station on the tip of it; you can't miss it. Lydd, or London Ashford International is just before the power station. Obvious isn't it? As we arrive, so do several other aircraft, including Russell. Richard gets a right base join which puts us ahead of everyone! Ooh look there's Russell going overhead now!

A straight forward landing, Richard seems to have the AC11 mastered, and we are sent to park up at the end of the row started by Two Charlies. And ooh look, a Spitfire in front of the restaurant! I guess if you're in a Spitfire you can park wherever you want as long as your easily visible from the food counter.

Park anywhere. Little and Large.

High viz jackets on (ho hum) and Russell taxis in. The Kawhatsit looks tiny next to the AC11. We enter the building and work our way through the lab rat maze to the shop and cough up the landing fee. Lydd is the quietest I've ever seen it; recession or bank holiday I don't know why. Sausage and bacon sandwiches ordered, I lead a daring raid on Two Charlies chips, the Spit would have been proud.

While we are eating the Spit departs, performing a low level pass of the restaurant before climbing away. Sparky sheds a tear, no doubt he wishes he had the contract for its fuel.

Some more Spit pics. Well why not?.

Time to go. Two Charlies and the Kualalumpur get away first. As we depart we here them descending to 1500ft to stay VMC... this could be interesting. As it turns out the cloud is not to bad. Once the low band is passed, 2000ft is possible, good enough to get over the hills. We catch and overtake Russell. At this speed we going to home pretty soon. We route over Thurrock again, but I can see no sign of my aeroplane. She's left me because of neglect I guess.

Gloomy clouds. No aeroplane.

And home we are. A quick debrief in the club house and then we all have to depart to take care of family duties. Thanks for the ride, Richard.

[Text: Rob] [Photos: Rob, click for more]